This invention relates generally to a container and, more particularly, to a relatively large and generally cylindrical bottle (e.g., a five gallon bottle) for holding purified drinking water or the like. Bottles of this type usually include a generally cylindrical body, a generally frustoconical top breast at the upper end of the body, and a tubular filling and dispensing neck projecting upwardly from the central portion of the breast.
Bottles of the type of the invention usually are inverted and installed on a gravity-type dispenser. In order to enable the bottle to be used with standard filling equipment, the inner diameter of the neck of the body is approximately 1-5/8" and is small in comparison to the inner diameter (e.g., about 10") of the generally cylindrical body of the bottle.
Most water bottles of this type are blow molded from a plastic such as polycarbonate or polyvinylchloride. The molding is effected by extruding hot plastic into a mold and by using pressurized air to blow the plastic into a shape conforming to the mold.
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is recognized as a material which is superior in many respects to polycarbonate and polyvinylchloride for use in bottles and the like. PET is stronger than the more conventional materials and thus a more economical and lighter weight bottle may be produced by using PET since less material is required to make a bottle of given size and strength. Also, PET has virtually no effect on the taste of the water or other beverage and may be readily recycled.
Relatively small (e.g., two liter) bottles made of PET are currently being produced in large quantities. Such bottles are made by providing an injection molded PET preform and by blow molding the preform into the shape of the ultimate bottle. Also, the assignee of the present invention has made large (e.g., 20 liter) PET spherical containers for use with draft beer and the like. Such spherical containers--known by the trade designator BEER SPHERE--also are formed by blow molding an injection molded PET preform.
Large (e.g., five gallon) and generally cylindrical water bottles for use with standard filling equipment and standard dispensers have not been previously produced on a commercial basis by blow molding an injection molded PET preform. The difficulty in producing such a bottle resides in part in keeping the diameter of the filling and dispensing neck small in relation to the diameter of the generally cylindrical body while still imparting adequate strength to the container. A particularly vulnerable area of the container is its frustoconical top breast since the breast must support considerable weight when filled bottles are stacked on top of one another during shipment.